On Friday 8th June, a small group of friends left for Sodwana for a weeks daytime broadbill fishing. We would be fishing on Mike Leenstra’s boat “Beluga”. Mike, Dale and I were there for the entire time but my Dad was only here for a few days. The weather forecast looked ominous for the first few days, but the long term forecast had a better prediction.
On Saturday morning, we launched and headed to Big W canyon where we had success before. On arrival, we were greeted with green cold water... not what we were hoping for. Our first bait went down at 8am but after an hour or so nothing had happened. We upped the line to check the bait and reset the drift. There had been an inquiry, but it came in the form of other squid that had mauled the bait. The pieces that were left had a number of “V” shaped cuts from the sharp beaks. This episode was repeated with the same result on every drop of the day, regardless of depth. Oh well, at least we tried.
On Sunday Morning, the 35 knot SW that was predicted came through and the day was blown out.
There was still a 15kt SW on Monday morning, but we launched regardless. This time we headed south to Diep Gat. The swell was really big, so deep dropping was out, instead we scratched around for gamefish in the green water. By the end of the day, we had 5 yellowfins (3 released), 1 cuda and a dorado.
The Tuesday forecast was for a 3-7kt NW wind ... this was everything but! We launched into a full on 20kt NE. The sea at 500m was unfishable for swordfish and we had no other bait to fish for gamefish. To make matters worse, the rough seas caused a screw to rattle loose in the controls which meant we could not pull it into neutral. All these issues called for a short day and we beached at 9am.
Wednesday morning looked a bit better, but on the way to the beach, the SE picked up and by the time we were on the backline, the wind was fresh. It took us a while to get to Diep Gat where we trolled lures for marlin bait. We managed two 3kg bonnies, one was rigged and the other went into the luna tube. After trolling for 3 hours in big swells, the bait died. The sea slowly started settling so we decided to rig the last bonnie on a deep drop rig and troll it into the canyon. As it got deeper, the weight was lowered. In 300m, with the bait just off the ground, the reel took off. Dale fed the fish for a while, but failed to hookup. The trip line on the weight did not break and the bait was torn off the bridle. On closer inspection it was evident, from the marks on the trace, that the strike came from a marlin... a surprise to all of us. The bonito was replaced with a squid and slow trolling commenced. At about 3pm, in 500m, the rod bumped a bit and the braid pulled off the reel. I slowly fought the fish to within 200m of the surface before the hooks pulled. There were no marks on the trace so who knows... That concluded the days fishing.
Thursday mornings predicted 4 kt SW to NE 5 kt only came true in the latter parts of the day. The 20kt SW that was actually blowing forced us to fish for gamefish off Witsand while waiting for better conditions. We managed to get a cuda, yellowfin and a nice dorado. Other than a missed strike on a live jube jube, we also caught a really big ... wait for it ... toby! By midday, the wind settled and we managed 2 drops. The squid were a problem on both drops and we assume the bait was eaten before anything worthwhile could get to it.
Friday morning was finally a nice day. The NW wind of 4kt and calm seas helped us get in 3 drops at Big W before the NE wind picked up to 18-20kt. In 650m the line went slack. Dale wound the slack in and found the line to be solid. Assuming we were stuck on the canyon wall, I turned the boat around and tried to free it. No matter which direction we pulled, the line remained solid in one place. The only option was to break the line. Mike and Dale both grabbed the spool of the reel (which was now on sunset) while I rode away. Nothing would give. I turned back and stopped directly above the line. As we were about to increase the preset, the rod bumped heavily and the reel took off! Mike took the strike and tried to lift whatever it was. After 20 minutes the 500m marker finally cleared the surface. Inch by inch, for an hour and a half, Mike pulled the fish until I traced a healthy 150kg thresher shark. Before I could cut the leader, it bit through the mono leader. 3 more drops produced baits mutilated by other squid, but nothing more tangible.
Saturday was our last day and once again the NE was blowing when we launched. Pre-empting the bad weather, we took a box of sardines with and managed 3 cuda and dropped another 2 before the wind settled. Two drops resulted in one mauled bait and another untouched after an hour of soaking!
Our week came to an end without success. We did however learn a few new tricks and had good laughs! Thanks to everyone involved. Hopefully next time the conditions will be in our favour...
